Thursday, May 21, 2009

A pair of first round picks are trading spots for the Brewers. 2006 first round pick Jeremy Jeffress is heading down to High-A Brevard County and 2001 first round pick Mike Jones is heading to Double-A Huntsville.

Both are Pitchers, Jones' career has been waylaid by shoulder and elbow injuries so to see him pitching at all is a minor miracle. Jeffress has been hampered by control problems and a substance abuse suspension.

The reason for the swap? Jeffress seems to have completely lost the strike zone in the month of May. In his last four starts he's walked 21. No need to panic yet though, remember, Jeffress was the pitcher of the year for the Crew's system a year ago. It wouldn't be surprising to see him back at Huntsville within a month or two.

What we really can read into this is the progression Mike Jones. Keep your fingers crossed, if he can stay healthy he will put himself back on the map. For Brevard County this year Mike is 4-0 with 26 K's and an ERA of 4.06, which is slightly inflated because in his last start he gave up five runs.

Jones could be fast tracked as well, he's 26 and was drafted the same year as Tim Dillard, Manny Parra, J.J. Hardy and former brewers Dennis Sarfate and Brad Nelson. If he pitches well for Huntsville he could get bumped to Nashville at the end of the season.